Posted on 11/25/2002, 4:46:20 PM by stainlessbanner
LINCOLNTON, N.C.(AP) - A black man who's a candidate to lead a county chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said he wants the job despite controversy he's sure it will create.
Rudolph Young, 57, of Stanley said he's not a Confederate flag-waver or an apologist for slavery, but sees himself as a seeker of historical truth.
Earlier this year, Young became the first black member of Lincoln County's Sons of Confederate Veterans. The unit, called a "camp" within the organization, is named after a general that commanded a unit in which Young's great-great-uncle was a field cook.
A new commander will be selected Dec. 9 and if Young wins he would be one of the few blacks in the nation to head a Sons of Confederate Veterans group. The organization has more than 700 camps and 35,000 members worldwide.
"I can take the heat," Young said. "I'm secure about who I am and who my ancestors were."
"I've gone back to original documents and eyewitness accounts. I've started from scratch, and I think I have come up with a more accurate picture of black Confederates. The surface has only been scratched on this subject."
In the past, Young said, whites and blacks have criticized him because of his black Confederate studies.
A Vietnam veteran, Young lives in Stanley and works in private security in Charlotte. He's also an amateur historian who has compiled two volumes focusing on black communities in Lincoln and Gaston counties.
Young is a founder and past president of the Trans-Catawba African American Genealogy Association.
Since 1993, Young has dug through Confederate pension rolls and identified 15 to 20 blacks from Lincoln, Gaston and Cleveland counties who aided the Confederacy in support roles. He's found hundreds more who are mentioned in the records, but not identified.
History professor Joel Williamson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said the degree of interaction between whites and blacks in the pre-Civil War South has always been underestimated.
"It's been lost to us in a big way because of deep segregation that came to the South very soon after the emancipation," Williamson said.
"In many cases, servants are the children of the people they serve. Why would a slave serve the Confederacy? Because possibly his master was colonel of the regiment. There are all sorts of crosscurrents going on."
Darrell Harkey, current commander of the Lincoln County Sons of Confederate Veterans, said Young brings fresh insights into local participants in the Civil War and would be a strong leader.
"He's got the knowledge and he's well qualified," Harkey said. "He's got the support and respect of the members."
At the group's monthly meetings, Harkey said, programs range from battles to military camp life.
"All we're trying to do is preserve history, not refight the war or attack anyone," Harkey said. "We're an educational group. If it were anything other than that, I wouldn't retain membership."
Lynda Moreau of New Orleans, spokeswoman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans national office, said the group is nonpolitical and that no reference to race is included on membership forms.
"I know we have some black members, but there's no way of knowing how many, she said.
Membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans is limited to people who can document a Confederate ancestor in their family tree.
Young joined the Lincoln group through his great-great-uncle, Caleb Lander, a slave who served as a cook in Gen. Robert F. Hoke's headquarters. Lander also fought in the March 1865 Battle of Bentonville, the last major battle of the Civil War.
"Their mission is honoring their ancestors," Young said. "I'm honoring mine."
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Dixie Bump!!!
Translation: He needs to learn his place.
i'm REALLY tired of being one of the few "minority" commanders of the SCV!
free dixie,sw
for a free & much improved dixie republic,sw
I didn't see any discussion of his political affiliations. He may well be a democrat, but since he has shown independent thought, you may be correct.
That's because, unlike most government applications, one's race is not a question found on the SCV application.
Unless this is just another example of poor journalism, it looks like this guy wouldn't actually be a "first."
Relief column for s_w!
Hope they advance with their artillery in their van.
Dixie bump!
free dixie,sw
nonetheless the SCV wants every CSA male desendent to join.
dial 1-800-mydixie for information.
free dixie,sw
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